Because they were just them
by ShadowDianne
Summary: And her eyes, those eyes that had looked at her with wonder were now closed, covered and alone in a fire-covered room. After the ultimate battle with the EvilQueen, with the villain permantently trapped on Regina's body and her conscience lost in a curse, Emma goes to the brunette's coffin and makes a promise. (No character death)


A/N For kyravalon... since this was her idea and I merely wrote down everything minus the sound effects xD

Because they were just them

The body was cold, unresponsive, and when Henry saw his grandmother turn away from David's shoulder and look at it with noticeably trembling lips he gasped, unable to contain his tears anymore. His lips were parched, broken and jagged from the many times he had bite on them as he tried to understand, to find a way, to bring his mother back.

And as he stood in the middle of the graveyard -the pieces of rubble and headstone that had been put one over the other carelessly seeming like a dark omen around them- he bite down another cry; the kiss. Everything was reduced to the kiss.

Because the Evil Queen had been many things, many things that he hadn't understood back when he had been younger. Or even now. But she had known about curses and magical rules and when his mother had fallen in the middle of the woods, dirt staining her cheeks, the ruler's cackle was still audible on the leaves and wind as a cursed apple fell from her mother's fingers. Destroy and conquer, that had been the queen's motto. And Regina had accepted that fate. But not him. He had tried to kiss his mother back to life, her skin starting to become sickly pale the moment he had finally been able to reach her but it had been futile; Regina wouldn't open her eyes, no matter how many times he tried.

It had been Gold at the end, grave and somber, the one who had declared that a true love kiss worked in a particular and definite way. And even though the boy and the former queen were indeed true love Henry wasn't able to break such curse anymore.

"She already did that to you, dearie."

Henry had cried that night, angry and furious of a world that as a kid he had found fascinating.

Snow had been the one who had tried after that. A feeble option but one that Henry had grasped to. Who better than the former foe turned friend to break such a thing? However, it had been as futile as Henry's kiss; Regina wouldn't open her eyes.

She wasn't death, but she was as close as she would be. Without Robin the fairies had predicted that there wasn't any other option on Regina's destiny to be the one designated to wake her and so it meant that Regina was trapped on the fire-room without a way of escaping from there for as long as she remained alive. Henry's book and author abilities, while strong, weren't able to break an already and willingly taken curse and so the teen clenched his fist around the pen he always had close to him, the world around his eyes seeming to flutter and disappear as Snow's voice circled him; soft and on the point of breaking as well as Henry's resolve.

"When I first met you" Snow declared, tears already threatening to drown her voice. Swallowing and feeling the strain on her muscles she kept going, the sting on her chords making her blink quickly, another tear escaping her eyes, "I thought you were a hero who had come to rescue me. What else could you be having being able to stop the angry horse that threatened to kill me?"

She almost smiled, remembering the young girl who had looked at her with care and softness, something that she had also seen disappear on those same eyes very soon after that.

"Then I realized that you were a woman, a girl, human, and my love for you became something that transformed us in what we once were. You, for all those times that swore to destroy my happiness, was the one who taught me to fight for it. To not look away from it. I never really thanked you"

The former bandit stopped when at the other side of the coffin the wind seemed to still. Perhaps… she thought, hoping, expecting, to see the telling signs of her daughter's magic there. It was an empty hope though and the wind settled. Emma wasn't there.

Closing her eyes for a moment she reached blindly for David and kept talking, feeling the eyes of not only Gold but also Henry looking at her from their places at her back.

"You were an incredible woman Regina. A dangerous foe, yes. But an invaluable ally and a hero. Not the kind that I thought I saw all those years ago in a horse but the kind of one that always kept fighting. You defeated hope and stared at it when everything seemed trite. You were strong, stronger that we all thought once that was possible. You were a force to be reckoned. And, most importantly, you were a friend"

Snow stopped herself there, memories of not only Regina as the young girl but also as the sad young woman she had seen back on those first years of the brunette and her father coming back to her. Of the woman, the mayor, she could remember from the years of the first curse. For the woman she had come to known better after that.

"We will keep searching" She swore loudly, knowing that the promise was not only been made to Regina or to herself but also to Henry and everyone who had come to the ceremony. They were going to find a solution, no matter what.

Turning towards Henry Snow grasped the teen's free hand and squeezed, the boy's red-rimmed eyes seeming to look back from a dimension far away from where they were. Snow couldn't blame him.

David didn't say a word, he had always preferred actions over words after all- very much like his daughter- and so he only nodded regally in front of Regina's coffin, a pensive look on his pupils and tightly pursed lips. He had never known Regina as well as Snow but he had seen the woman's journey in Storybrooke and he had come to respect the former sovereign.

"We will" His eyes seemed to say and Snow sighed deeply as Gold took a step towards the coffin, cane on his hand and Belle at his side. The auburn beauty hadn't say a word after the battle and Snow hadn't dare to ask the details about her own adventure. She didn't feel that it was her place to pry. However, when the elderly man looked at Regina's profile silently for a couple of seconds Snow looked towards him, not sure of what kind of eulogy -not, it wasn't that, she refused to think it was that- he had prepared.

"In this world" The man started, back straight as a road and neck bent towards the prostrated woman "There are many stories and retellings about who was the Evil Queen, the woman who tried to destroy Snow White's happiness." The Dark One seemed to sigh before continuing. "However, there are none about why the Queen was like that, why she seeked blood and death. Vanity and greed are the most used concepts to explain it and we both know that stories, our stories, are never as easy as that."

"I was the one who created the Queen, who wanted her. I destroyed and created and never once I looked back. You were my ticket to Bae and I refused to let anything else cloud my judgement. You were a necessity, a tool.

And I'm sorry of the price I made you to take."

"You weren't just that though, you weren't just a Queen, a ruler, as well as you weren't only a villain. I had that misconception, that thought that only we were able to be evil or heroes, bad or good. Grey is a very interesting idea but from where we are, dearie, nothing stays in a middle area for far too long."

"However, you taught me that fate is not written in stone. You made me remember" Belle seemed to be about to say something but she kept silent and Snow glanced at her quickly, remembering the brief days in where she had thought she was on the verge to see Emma transforming herself in the Dark One. She probably would never understand what meant for Belle being who she was, caring about who she did. But she had a very acute idea of what she probably was thinking about.

"You aren't and weren't just my pupil Regina, as well as you weren't just a tool. You dedicated your life to be free, even when you thought you were trapped." The man turned towards where the Charmings and Henry stood and smirked lopsidedly. "Every master has a moment where they realize their pupil had surpassed them. You did that sooner that I had expected and you exceled in areas I never thought you would be able to. You are stronger than everyone ever thought and declared you were and in that is rooted your power. I wasn't able to see that, not until very recently. I will not forget it again. Farewell."

With those final words the man turned and returned back to Belle who greeted him with a small nod, apparently unable to add anything else. Snow thought about the words the man had said, trying to understand everything the man had tried to convey. He hadn't seemed sad. Although with Rumplestiskin one never knew. But the bottom of his words were clear and the woman swallowed down tears once again, not knowing what else to do or say.

"We should probably…" Snow started softly, tugging Henry's hand. The boy, however, didn't yield and when the other adults looked at him his eyes were focused once again, limpid tears staining his cheeks in where Snow noticed with dismay that a very fair stubble could be seen.

"I will stay here"

David and Snow glanced at each other. The act had remained simple, Storybrooke needed to be rebuilt and the bittersweet feeling after the battle had left many holes on the town's heart. There weren't any other voices ready to speak, not more people there to declare. Not even…

"Is cold…" She started, trying to find a way to say that as much as it pained her her daughter would probably not come.

"I will stay" The words were out more forcefully than before and in them was the irrevocable truth of how the teen didn't plan on moving. Humming and admitting defeat Snow looked back at David who nodded as well. They were also staying.

Even if no one else dared to come.

-.-

The sound of her boots against the pavement seemed to echo in the seemingly dead town. The main road was still cracked and in some corner rests of cars still waited for someone to come and pick them up. Magic still crackled in the air from time to time and Emma's green eyes danced from one source of power to the other, her body seeming to still be waiting for the Queen. Even if she herself had seen her been absorbed inside Regina's body the moment the brunette had taken the decision; her life over the others, her freedom over the freedom of others.

Tension was written on the sides of her mouth; a straight line framed by worry and tiredness. She had been unable to sleep ever since the battle and the magic her body was still coated in kept tingling inside of her, asking to be released.

What kept her awake though wasn't the pain or the magic but the regret, regret of at the end not being to save her, to save Regina.

"I will bring you your happy ending" She had said a long time ago, a door and unsaid words between the brunette and herself. "I will do it"

At the end it hadn't been something as simple as a happy ending but what came with it and as she walked down the fractured road she kept seeing Regina's brown eyes back in a day even further from the present; a day in where she had still hated her. The day of the fire.

The flames had been licking her clothes by the time they had come out of the door of the crumbling office and she still could remember how her lungs had protested the second a fresh wave of air had reached them. "This is what decent people do" She had screamed angrily, photographers surrounding them and the heat of the fire still caressing their skins. In that moment she hadn't understood why Regina had seemed so shaken. She had thought that it was a proof of how the mayor was nothing but an evil bitch that needed to be taught a lesson. She hadn't seen beyond that.

Now, however, the story told another kind of tale and those stricken eyes had looked at her a few hours ago once again, a sudden decision being made on those pupils the moment the Queen had presented the option to the brunette.

"I will always be a part of you" The ruler had declared, teeth bared and eyes glimmering on the fire of her insanity. "Your mistake is pretending that I am not"

Emma as well had forgotten what kind of woman she had been before Storybrooke, before everything. She had needed a lot to find her family, to learn about what meant to actually have someone to watch her back. She had needed to almost lost them to actually realize what was to be part of it and curses and memory blanks had been the creaks where it had seeped its way in. However, with family had come expectations of another kind of life and world. Duties that had almost destroyed her with words such "destiny" or "role" and she, the lost girl, had trapped herself in lie after lie she had thought would be better than the truth.

Truth that had shone so vividly on Regina's eyes a few hours ago that had left her breathless. And scared.

That was the reason why she had disappeared after the battle, fragile and in need to understand. To understand what had been what Regina had tried to convey on that last look.

The wind blew coldly through the trees that had slowly been replacing the houses for a few minutes now, the shadows of the first gravestones what welcomed her to the silent graveyard. Her boots were now sinking in mud and fallen leaves and she shivered inside her leather jacket, the red of the fabric seeming almost grey on the poor light. Beanie firmly put over her locks she shrugged inside the cloth and kept walking forward, the silhouette of Henry first and Snow, David, Rumple and Belle later the last signal she needed before taking the last few strides towards where they had placed the coffin; the Mills' pantheon.

An ominous place if someone wanted to ask her, almost as if they considered Regina as good as dead.

Which she was, an insidious voice whispered inside of her. Trapped at least. Without Robin the chances for her to wake up were slim to none and she could still remember the knowledge that had come with being the dark one well enough to know about the rulers that were tied to a curse like that one; Henry wouldn't do.

"Hey" She whispered after shaking her head once, hands sunk on her pockets and the glint of her swan-penchant visible through the collar of the clothing. Henry looked at her from where he was and he seemed about to say something that died as quickly on his lips. Emma couldn't blame him; she had hugged him with tears streaming down her eyes a few hours ago before retreating completely inside of herself. Snow wasn't as forgiving as the teen and looked at her with a mix of worry and anger Emma had learnt to take as strangely comforting. David was the only one who moved toward her, a strong hand squeezing her shoulder. A silent message she took with greed, eyes still unable to look at the coffin that stood in front of the group; the silent guest.

Rumplestiskin however, talked in a raspy grave voice that made Emma shiver, traces of sadness and worry lacing the words. The man's eyes, however, remained unreadable as he tilted his head to the right. Emma noticed the cane but said nothing; every kind of prices had been paid on the battle after all.

"Miss Swan! We were starting to think you weren't going to show up. Fashionable late I see."

The diction was wrong and the wording wasn't exactly the same but the sentence was similar enough for Emma to think for a second if it had been Rumplestiskin the one who had shown Regina how to talk back on the days where the Queen as a concept was just an idea on a magical-infused man. She would probably never find out and so she just stood as tall as she was and focused her gaze on the man's eyes, her own voice sounding strange on her ears as she answered succinctly. "Well, I'm here now."

The Dark One hummed before nodding profoundly; the tip of his chin almost sinking on his chest. "Indeed you are"

The words were cryptic enough for Emma to narrow her eyes. However, as the silence stretched, the blonde decided to shrug it off and with it it came the inevitable moment she had tried to delay; the coffin.

With unsure steps she detached herself from her father's hold and approached it, her eyes noticing the complicated -probably magical induced- cravings that decorated the sides. Vine-like lines circled the body that rested limply on the coffin's floor and the glass reflected the poor light of the place in greys and silvers. All the strength Regina always seemed to yield even when she rested was gone from the now almost bland features that looked back at Emma's praying pupils. Pupils that looked away in shame, the taste of loss touching the back of the woman's mouth once again. She hadn't been able to reach her, not in time.

And her eyes, those eyes that had looked at her with wonder were now closed, covered and alone in a fire-covered room.

Punching had proven to be unsuccessful to curses, Emma had already learnt that, but a part of her brain thought of the possibilities to actually destroy everything with the punch of all punches, the punch that could actually solve everything. She knew better though and the clenched fists on the inside of her pockets slowly relaxed until they weren't in tension anymore.

 _"I'm here"_ She had just said to Rumple but the meaning of that still escaped to her; she couldn't do anything but stare after all. The stupidity of it all enraged her; she had promised her to be there, to be strong alongside with her. She had come from hating her to trust her to wish for her to be her friend. She had longed… she had waited. And then she herself had destroyed everything else.

 _"I'm here"_

But Regina wasn't and that was the most important thing of all.

Licking her lips, she looked towards Henry; the tip of the Author's pen poke from a tightly formed fist. The sight made her smile sadly, her lips barely moving but a crinkle forming around her eyes, Henry was a stubborn as Regina and herself. And perhaps it was that or the look the boy gave her but Emma turned back towards the prostrated brunette and gave a very deep breath, the smell of the forest still bringing with it the magical electricity that had danced on the Queen's body the moment it had been absorbed once and for all.

"I guess that they have already said to you things that I will never be able to come close to" She started, teeth biting her upper lip strong enough for the skin to almost draw blood. "You know I'm a doer, not a thinker. I never know what to say."

The words felt trapped inside of her and Emma fought against them, against her need to fell silent. She had already fell silent far too many times with Regina; the brunette deserved at least her to speak.

"I actually not know how I'm going to make it without you there to be the one telling me when I'm doing something stupid" She heard the soft yet sad chuckles of Snow and Henry. Her mother was probably remembering the moment where Emma, still a dark one, had recriminated Regina just that. Many things had happened since them- most of them things Emma didn't feel happy or proud about- but yet the memory of Regina looking at her completely exasperated was a warm, fuzzy memory she didn't want to forget. Not yet. "The town will probably be in pieces by the time I have that figured out. Again." This time it was her the one who found herself chuckling as the beginning of another set of tears started to roll down her cheeks. Sucking as most air as possible inside of her lungs, she cleared her throat and waited for a few seconds; her chest heaving inside her jacket, the fabric trembling as she tried not to break in front of the Regina, in front of her son.

"But I will figure it out. I promise. You will need to tell me which files I need to report you once you wake up again though. I'm always horrible to remember filing them."

She doubted for a second and stammered but as she licked her lips she finally took out her hands out of her pockets, her warm digits closing around Regina's right hand. It was strange feeling such coldness from a woman that was able to yield fire and Emma caressed the soft yet unmoving fingers in circles as she focused herself solely on the woman she had in front of her.

"Because you will be there. When I arrived here I wasn't able to believe but if I believe in something now other than our son's amazingness is that you aren't going to let this keep yourself away from Henry, away from… the people that love you."

 _"Because I heard and listened that day in the apartment"_ She added inwardly, acutely aware that they were surrounded by people.

Later on she would never be able to explain why she bent over the coffin, why she left the woman's hand and caressed the cheek instead, why she closed her eyes. She only could tell the feeling of utter conviction that if there was even going to be a moment that was the one she needed to take and slowly, ever so slowly, she moved towards Regina's lips forgetting that she _indeed_ wasn't alone, that she wasn't supposed to be the one doing this. She forgot about everything else, about duties and roles and she just kissed the brunette.

Regina's lips were soft, like home, like a dream already imagined a thousand times, like the nightlight Emma remembered from one of those good foster homes she had had the first few years, like conviction.

A second.

And then… a sigh, a whisper that ricocheted against the blonde's retreating lips. "Emma?"

And Emma, with the gasps of Snow, David and Henry at her back and what seemed to be a chuckle and a whisper from Gold, only blushed and nodded.

"Hi…"

The next couple of seconds were a blur of excited screams, Henry tears and hugs almost breaking his mothers in two. However, in that quite strange second in where Emma looked at a slowly standing Regina over Henry's right shoulder she couldn't but smile, stupidly happy, stupidly relieved, stupidly in love.

"You saved me" Regina whispered in that moment.

And Emma, drunk on the moment, could only mouth what she knew was true. "No, we both saved each other"

Because fate was something they didn't stick to, because they were just a role, just a name. They were the ones who defeated destiny, the ones who looked back at it. The savior and the queen, the sheriff and the mayor.

Emma and Regina.


End file.
